


The Devourer of Mankind | Doctor Who Series 1, Episode 2

by ReganInglis



Series: Doctor Who | Series 1 [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doctor Who References, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23277265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReganInglis/pseuds/ReganInglis
Summary: Emelie ventures off to Baker Falls National Park, where her friends are in terrible danger from something howling in the night...
Series: Doctor Who | Series 1 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624294
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So with the Coronavirus causing everyone to go crazy, I haven't really had the time to add to my Doctor Who series until now. I'm now off work for at least six weeks so I think I should be able to get everything out faster than usual.  
> This episode will be shorter than the last, aiming for six chapters instead of ten like the last.  
> Anyhoo, enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One stormy night at Baker Falls National Park leads to terror...

* * *

Outside the cabin, the rain was nearing torrential levels. There had been a yellow weather warning put out across the region, which included the Baker Falls National Park. Sarah, Kirsty and Dylan had gone there to spend a weekend in a log cabin, but failed to check about the weather. Now, as Sarah stood by the window watching the rainfall, she feared for the safety of herself and her friends.

The weather had gotten so bad that it had tripped the power, so the trio were left in near darkness. Kirsty had lit some candles to put around the cabin, while Dylan volunteered to go out and find help, wherever that may be.

That was two hours ago. And as Sarah stood at the window, waiting to see a familiar silhouette come into view, her nerves began to get the better of her. She could see barely anything outside, just one light in the distance. Due to the rain, she couldn’t even make out what was casting the light: a car perhaps? A lamppost? Maybe Dylan? Not likely, the light remained still. Like it was watching the cabin. A predator stalking its prey.

“Where the hell is he?” she asked Kirsty, who lifted her head. “Pretty sure it doesn’t take two hours to find help. The park isn’t even that big!”

Kirsty looked at the concern on her friend’s face.

“He’ll be fine, Sarah. He’s had to do this sort of thing before when we’ve done trips like this.” She explained. 

Sarah wasn’t too convinced.

“In this?” She questioned, pointing at the biblical storm outside the cabin. The rain had since altered to include the occasional fall of hailstones, which hit against the windows with a relatively loud *CLICK CLICK*.

Kirsty cocked her head slightly.

“True. can’t argue with you there.” Kirsty admitted, much to the annoyance of Sarah. 

As she turned back to look out the window, Kirsty’s phone buzzed in her pocket.

“There, you see? It’s Dylan. Says he’s on his way back.” she said, showing Sarah the message. While she wasn’t completely ready to numb her nerves, Sarah nodded.

“Think we should head to bed now. He won’t be long.”

Sarah looked down at her phone: the time was 21:36. Surely he wouldn’t be much longer? After much deliberation, Sarah finally pulled the curtains across the window, shielding the rain from view, but doing nothing to stop the sound of it coming down. Granted, it was quieter in the bedroom, but not by much. Because of this, Sarah didn’t think she’d get much sleep, let alone with the worry of Dylan outside in the storm, alone.

* * *

As Kirsty slept in her bed, Sarah lay wide awake next to her. Her eyes focused on the ceiling. The trees outside were casting shadows across it, the branches lightly tapping against the window. To most people, the branches looked relatively normal. To Sarah, with her heightened nerves rendering sleep nearly impossible, she saw the branches’ shadows to be like creepy hands with elongated fingers, routinely knocking on the window, like a demon requesting permission to gain entry. 

She turned over, trying to block that mental image from her mind. Taking her phone off the bedside table, she saw the time: 00:45. And still no Dylan. Where was he? Looking over at Kirsty’s bed, she saw her friend fast asleep. How did she do it? How could she remain so calm and controlled when her boyfriend was nowhere to be found?

Sarah couldn’t take it anymore. she quietly peeled back her duvet and slipped on a pair of slippers next to the bed. Grabbing a dressing gown as she stood up, she took one last look at a sleeping Kirsty, before leaving the bedroom.

The sitting room was dead silent, save for the raging storm outside. All around her, she could find no sign of life. Nothing. Even the doormat lacked any evidence of a rain-drenched Dylan making an appearance at any point through the night.

As Sarah continued to look around, she suddenly jumped up as a flash of lightning cracked across the night sky, sending light through the windows. Mere moments later, thunder echoed out, the short amount of time between it and the lightning confirmed to Sarah that they must be in the centre of the storm.

 _God, I really wish I’d checked the weather before coming here,_ Sarah thought to herself.

She walked over to the window and peered through the curtains. The weather hadn’t changed a bit. She still couldn’t see very far in the distance. But the light from earlier was gone. Like it was never there to begin with. Was it ever truly there? Sarah’s thoughts began to frustrate her.

Another flash of lightning. Sarah didn’t jump this time, but she did see something in the distance. Taking her phone out, she switched on the flashlight mode, and aimed it outside. Realising that endeavour was futile behind a reflective window, she headed for the front door to the cabin, and pulled it open. As soon as she did, she was bombarded with a huge gust of wind, and the hard-hitting rain almost drenched her.

Another flash. There was a silhouette in the distance. She didn’t need her flashlight to see it this time. From the way she saw it briefly, it looked large. Really large. Much larger than a person. But what was it?

The lightning flashed a third time. The silhouetted figure could be seen again. But this time, it looked closer. Sarah took a few paces back, but kept the door open to see what it was.

“Dylan?! Dylan is that you?!” She shouted over the rain, but doubted that anyone would hear her voice.

A fourth time now. The silhouette looked closer, but now looking in her direction. Sarah’s pulse began to quicken. She gripped the door tightly, waiting to see the silhouette again.

As the lightning flashed for a fifth time, the silhouette wasn’t just closer, it was running towards her at an alarming pace. Sarah screamed as she slammed the door shut, using every lock she could find to keep whatever it was from coming in. She pulled a nearby bookcase from its initial position to the door, using it like a barricade.

The lightning flashes became more frequent now. Not only that, Sarah could hear footsteps. Whatever that thing was, it was now outside the cabin. Sarah sat like a statue, completely still. She peered through the curtain in the window next to the door. Fine details couldn’t be made out, but she could see the looming shape of the being outside.

It moved slowly, like it was biding its time, or maybe it didn’t know she was in the cabin. Maybe it didn’t get a good look at her.

“Sarah? What’s going on?” Asked a voice from behind her.

She turned to see Kirsty, woken up by the commotion, and none the wiser to whatever was outside.

“Kirsty, shut up!” Sarah whispered harshly.

Her friend didn’t have a clue what she was going. Suddenly, a low growl came from outside the door. The two girls looked towards the door in terror.

But instead of the door flying open as they anticipated, there was a knocking. The same way a person would. Sarah and Kirsty looked baffled. But then, the knocking became louder, and faster. What began like a simple request to enter was morphing into a demand.

Sarah began to inch backwards, towards the safety of Kirsty. She also began to step back a few paces.

The knocking continued, gradually increasing in volume and intensity.

And then the door came crashing down, blown straight off its hinges. Sarah and Kirsty had no way out. They were doomed…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: Emelie learns of the horrors at Baker Falls and goes in to investigate...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emelie travels to Baker Falls National Park, hoping to find out what's going on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two is up! Enjoy!

* * *

Emelie had booted up her laptop as soon as she came downstairs, still in her pyjamas. Her family moved around the kitchen, while she sat at the dining table. She had a slice of toast covered in jam and butter in one hand, the other was typing away on the laptop. The screen presented a job-searching website. She still hadn’t opened the letter from The Breaking Feed, but was still under the impression that she was no longer employed. Because of this, she felt like she should start looking around for a new job, hopefully in the same sort of direction she initially aspired to go in to.

“You’ve been sitting at that thing for a week now,” Emma said, “maybe it’s worth going out to look for something?”

Emelie took a moment to bite into her toast before responding to her question.

“Maybe. Though I doubt I’d find anything drastically different.”

As she looked through one page, she saw a few adverts that seemed to fit what she was looking for; ‘Media Journalist Required for up-and-coming news website’, ‘Local Newspaper looking for new talent’.

Before she could find extra details on the adverts, Emelie’s phone buzzed, indicating a notification of some kind. Taking her eye off the screen, she picked up her phone to see what it was.

It was a text message from her friend Sarah - the same Sarah at the Baker Falls National Park. The message was short and simple: _HELP ME_.

Emelie just stared at the text. It wasn’t like Sarah to randomly send a message like that. Was it a prank message? Or maybe something else entirely? Perhaps she really did need help.

Whatever the reason, Emelie dialled Sarah’s number and called her. The phone against her ear, the recognisable outgoing call sound played on repeat for several moments. 

There was nothing. Eventually, the phone switched to voicemail.

“Hey Sarah, It’s Emelie. Give me a ring back, would you? Not sure what’s going on,” Emelie said, before ending the call.

Taking herself back to the laptop, she decided to look up the Baker Falls National Park on the news, just in case something had happened.

As it turned out, there had. A body had been recovered from the Park, that of a young man in his early twenties.

Emelie picked herself up, keeping her phone in hand and heading upstairs to put on some proper clothes.

Emma didn’t even get a chance to see her daughter as she left the kitchen.

* * *

The trip on the bus was filled with the usual assortment of scenarios one would find on a journey via public transport. There was a group of schoolkids at the back of the bus, playing loud and obnoxious music and shouting at each other. The passengers situated further to the front would often look back and glare at the kids with condemnation.

Emelie was lucky to avoid them with her headphones on, that way she didn’t have to listen to whatever conversation they were bellowing. She felt a nudge at her feet. Peering down, she saw a half-empty plastic bottle rolling around on the floor. The child the bottle belonged to sat directly in front of Emelie and was sat over the seat, staring at her.

Emelie smiled, before picking up the bottle and giving it to the little boy. He graciously accepted the bottle, and turned back to face the front.

Looking down at her phone, Emelie read the message again: _HELP ME._

There was still no call from Sarah. Emelie remained confused and slightly worried as the bus continued on down its route.

* * *

Most of the passengers seemed to be disembarking at the National Park, just like Emelie. Despite the storm that had been ravaging the area the night before, there was nearly no evidence that such a storm even occurred. The Sun was shining bright in the sky above her, the trees swaying with the gentle breeze. Everything appeared calm and peaceful.

Emelie followed one of the groups towards the Visitor Centre. The group stopped suddenly, as one of the Park Rangers was standing in front of the entrance.

“Sorry folks, the park is closed for today. No new visitors!” the Ranger announced.

The group sighed, before turning round to head back to the bus stop. As they walked away, Emelie stood where she was, not intent to walk away.

“Is this about the body that was found here?” Emelie asked the Ranger.

“We’re prioritising your safety, Miss. Nothing to worry about,” he explained.

“So yes then,” she deduced.

The Ranger ignored her and went back inside the Visitor Centre, making sure to put up a CLOSED sign in the window.

Emelie was the only one left in the area. Another bus had arrived to pick up the visitors turned away by the Ranger. She had only just turned around to see the bus pulling away.

“Great,” she muttered. 

With no way of getting into the park through the Visitor Centre, she followed the route of the bus in the other direction. She hoped to find another way that was more… restricted.

Taking her phone out of her pocket, Emelie dialled Sarah’s number again.

There was still no response. She liked to think that the message was just a mistake, but the body being recovered was suspicious.

Another option entered her mind. Scrolling through her contacts, she found ‘The Doctor’. She dialled that number, hoping for some sort of response. After a few moments, the phone picked up.

“Yello?” came the Doctor’s voice on the other end.

“Doctor? It’s Emelie.”

“Oh, hey. How’re things?” he asked.

“Not good. How quickly can you get to Baker Falls National Park?”

“Pretty easily, why?”

“A body’s been found here,” she explained.

“Where are you specifically?”

Emelie looked around for a landmark of some kind. A short distance away, there was a wooden carving of a Red Deer, a symbol for the Park.

“There’s a carving of a Red Deer, if that--”

“Yep, that’s good. Give me thirteen seconds,” he quickly said, before the phone cut off.

Emelie pulled the phone away from her ear. Thirteen seconds?

 _Oddly specific,_ she thought.

Next to the deer carving, there was a flash of blue light, and the Doctor was in full view.

“Oh good. Found you finally,” he announced, walking towards her. 

Emelie looked puzzled.

“Finally?” she asked him.

“Came across five other deer carvings until I found this one,” the Doctor explained, “I think I scared the life out of an actual deer.”

“Yeah, I think you would if you just appeared out of thin air. Doesn’t usually happen,” she replied, smirking.

The Doctor smirked as well.

“So, what do you know so far?” he asked.

“Well they’ve closed the park to all visitors. No way of getting in through the entrance so I thought we’d try a more restricted route,” she said.

“Good plan. But what if you head back to the Visitor Centre and start asking questions, see what’s going on?”

“I was fired, Doctor,” she replied.

“Yeah, but they don’t know that. If you’ve got your ID, they should be alright,” he suggested. “I’ll try and find a way into the Park, and see what I can find.”

Emelie wormed her way through her bag to find her ID. Her hand reached something small and rectangular in shape, with rounded corners. Pulling the object out, it revealed her Breaking Feed ID. Luckily she hadn’t thrown it away just yet.

“Fingers crossed it works then,” she said.

The two walked off in opposite directions, one heading for the Visitor Centre, the other further down the path, hoping to find a way into the restricted area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: The Doctor and Emelie traverse the Park to find out more...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Emelie conduct their own investigations across the Park...

* * *

The walls of the Visitor Centre were covered in photos of Baker Falls; it’s residential areas, visitors from across the years, the wildlife and so on. Emelie’s eyes gazed over the photos, as the Ranger from earlier walked in.

“This is our most popular season,” he announced.

Emelie continued to look at the photos.

“For finding dead bodies?” she asked, unfazed by the appearance of the ranger.

“Visitor numbers,” he clarified, “obviously.”

Emelie turned to look at the ranger. He didn’t appear to be the best pleased to see her in the Centre.

“Obviously,” Emelie echoed.

“I thought I told you the park was closed?”

Emelie shrugged her shoulders.

“Can’t get rid of me that easily,” she replied, “not while there’s bodies turning up in the woods.”

The Ranger crossed his arms, almost like an incentive for her to leave. But Emelie wasn’t having any of it. Putting a hand in her pocket, she pulled out her Breaking Feed ID card and presented it to the Ranger.

“Now do you wanna start telling me what’s going on?” she declared.

The Ranger stared at her for a moment, unsure whether to play along or repeat his orders to leave. Eventually, he gave her the ID card back.

“It was a man’s body. Found it in a ditch about a mile from the Visitor Centre,” he explained.

“Yeah I already knew that bit. The bus trip was pretty long. Meant I could do my own research,” she said.

“Right,” the Ranger replied. “No specific identification. The body was…” he trailed off before finishing the sentence.

Emelie picked up on this. She didn’t need to know what he couldn’t say.

“How many others have turned up?” Emelie continued.

“That’s it,” he said quickly, “no-one else.”

Emelie wasn’t too convinced by his response. His overall demeanour had shifted to someone who was quite obviously trying to hide something. Almost like an imitation, she too crossed her arms.

“You sure about that?” she asked him, angling her head slightly. The Ranger’s composure was beginning to wane, so much so he was avoiding eye contact with the young journalist.

“There’s been…” he began. “... There’s been other bodies found before. But not for years, like we’re talking over twenty years.”

Emelie took some notes on her phone, making sure to write down every detail she could.

“Okay. Thank you. You’ve helped a lot,” she said, before walking past the Ranger to leave the Visitor Centre.

* * *

The route the Doctor had taken was rather reckless. What was once a cycle route had been transformed into a sharp and winding river almost, courtesy of the storm the night before. He couldn’t imagine anyone on a bicycle riding through, let alone someone on foot.

As he ventured deeper into the woods, he began to feel a cold shiver running down his spine; the day was coming to a close, and soon it would be dark.

The Doctor passed by a large oak tree, it’s height towering over everything else in sight. He glanced at the bark, not taking in the strange markings etched into it. Stopping suddenly, he doubled back to take a closer look.

The markings ran deep. Almost like claw marks. The inside was coated in red. _Blood_.

“Definitely not a rabbit then,” he deduced, “not that it would ever be a rabbit. Bit too Gilliam.”

The Doctor stepped back to take in the visage of the tree. The markings were around five feet above the ground. The angle of the marks as well suggested that whatever the culprit was hadn’t reached up to scrape along the bark. It had to have been very large. Much bigger than a human.

He looked down to the ground. Due to the storm, the Doctor’s footprints were preserved in excellent clarity, right down to the details on the bottom of his boots. But alongside the footprints, there was another set of prints.

Kneeling down to take a closer look, he realised the prints were, like the claw marks, too big for a human.

“Anything?” Emelie’s voice shouted, alerting the Doctor. He turned his head to see where she was. Just a short distance away, she had followed his footprints through the mud to find him.

“Claw marks on a tree, Bigfoot tracks and a strange journalist trundling through the woods like Goldilocks,” he replied, making Emelie smile.

“Not a bear, is it?”

“No. Bears have been extinct in the UK since the Middle Ages,” he explained, before standing back up.

“I’ve also ruled out it being a rabbit.”

Emelie looked at the Doctor and rolled her eyes.

“Well done,” she remarked.

He looked at her too, not really picking up on the sarcasm.

“Okay then. Onward!” he exclaimed, before walking off through the trail. Emelie followed at a slower pace, taking in the sights.

* * *

When they came across the cabin Sarah had been staying in, it was a wreck to say the least. The storm had done enough damage to the exterior building, the windows and the front door had been forcibly removed from their hinges.

“That’s not right,” the Doctor announced, clicking his fingers towards the shattered door.

“It was a pretty bad storm, Doctor,” Emelie replied, “I’m sure that could have done that.”

He walked up to where the door used to be, and inspected the hinges. There was barely anything left.

“Look at the hinges. There’s no way the wind could be strong enough to pull the door off,” he explained.

As he walked further into the cabin, Emelie took a closer look at the hinge remains.

“So if it is some kind of creature, what are we looking at?” Emelie asked him. 

His focus was on the windows now.

“The biggest thing around here are deer. Unless they’re provoked, I doubt it would even think of trying to get into a cabin,” he deduced.

He went right up to the windows, looking at the shatter patterns across the edges, as well as the lack of any glass shards on the floor.

“This window was broken from the inside.”

Emelie looked at another window nearby, taking in the shatter patterns on them.

“Same here!” she replied.

Taking a step back, the Doctor took in the entire cabin. Nearly everything was thrown from their original positions, or torn to pieces like a dog with a cushion.

On the wooden floor, the overly large footprints were visible, the mud from the outdoors preserving them on the ground. Emelie knelt down to see more detail.

“One pair of tracks. I’d say it stands on two legs, so definitely not a deer,” she determined.

“And no hooves either,” the Doctor chimed in.

Suddenly, there was a sound like a large object dropped in one of the bedrooms. The Doctor picked up on this and slowly moved towards the sound.

The hallway was relatively unbroken compared to the rest of the cabin, which confused the Doctor somewhat.

Gently pushing the door open, he stepped into the bedroom. Akin to the hallway, everything looked fine.

There was a rustling in the large wardrobe. Emelie walked in as the sound rang out. The Doctor glanced towards the tall, wooden structure, unsure of what he would find inside.

Emelie ventured closer, despite the Doctor trying to pull her back.

Her hands sat flat on the wardrobe door, waiting to determine what she would do next.

Suddenly, she pulled the doors open, only to find Sarah and Kirsty crouched inside. The speed the doors opened caused the two girls to quickly scream out in terror. They soon subsided once they realised who was there.

“Emelie?” asked Sarah, tears forming along the edges of her eyes.

“This is the most cliched hiding place you could have chosen, Sarah” Emelie remarked.

“Well it worked, didn’t it?” Kirsty chimed in. Even the Doctor nodded his head in agreement.

Pulling her friends from the wardrobe, the three embraced in a tight hug, as if they hadn’t seen each other for years.

“I got your text,” Emelie said, “though I’m not sure why you sent it to me. Surely the police would’ve been better?”

“You told me you’d seen some pretty weird things. Like aliens and stuff, I figured you’d know what you’re doing,” Sarah explained.

“What did you see?” came the Doctor’s voice from behind.

The three round to see him standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. A look of annoyance covered his face, but they were unsure as to who the annoyance was aimed at.

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t see it properly. But it was big. Like, really big.”

“Did it look like a rabbit?”

Sarah looked very confused by this question.

“Excuse me?”

Emelie waved her hands at her friend.

“Ignore him,” she said, “did you see anything else about it?”

Sarah shook her head. Kirsty put her hand up, like a student wanting to ask their teacher a question.

“It looked like it had antlers,” she admitted.

Emelie looked back to the Doctor in confusion. But his face didn’t display confusion. It was something else entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: Our heroes come to realise they are all in far greater danger than they anticipated...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Park Ranger soon learns of Emelie and the Doctor breaking into the park, and goes to find out why...

* * *

In a small security room, David Kripke stared at a computer screen with annoyance. The screen showed CCTV footage of the park; the visitor centre and some of the routes that adorned it. One one of the cameras, he could see two people breaking in: a man he had never seen before, and the young reporter who had questioned him earlier that day.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said aloud.

How had he not seen this sooner? He should’ve known she would go snooping around.

“Typical reporter,” he remarked.

He studies the other camera screens, charting the two as they journeyed through the woods. What were they looking for?

Grabbing his effects from a nearby desk, David left the security room, the screens still displaying the park and its routes.

* * *

David locked up the visitor centre as he left the premises. There were no other staff members left on site in the hours since the emergency services had arrived to take the body away. It was just him watching over everything.

He reached his SUV and pressed the button on his keys to unlock it. As he got to the window, he saw a reflection of a streetlamp’s bulb come on, indicating that it was beginning to get dark. Very soon, the park would be encased in near total darkness. 

Sitting in the driver’s seat, David put his effects on the passenger seat and switched the car on, which roared to life. He shut the door as the car drove off down the road - towards the restricted route.

* * *

The Doctor had left the cabin in a rush, closely followed by Emelie, Sarah and Kirsty. As he looked up to the sky, he could see the Sun was no longer above them, but more so behind them.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” He announced, “My priority is getting you all out of here, and fast.”

Emelie rushed up to meet him.

“What’s out there?” She asked him.

“I’ve got a few theories, but nothing concrete.”

He moved his attention towards the two girls standing behind them, keeping close to one another.

“Emelie’s gonna get you out of here, okay?”

They both nodded.

“What about you?” Emelie wondered.

“If I can find out what it is, I can stop it from hurting anyone else.”

“On your own?” She remarked. “Absolutely not, I’m staying with you.”

The Doctor put his hands on Emelie’s shoulders. His focus was now on her, this strange girl he’d only met a week ago.

“No. It’s too dangerous. If I knew what it was, I’d feel a lot safer. Until then, you get them out. No arguments” He declared.

Emelie looked at him, the determination in his eyes. She wanted to help him so much, to be by his side as they figured out what was going on. But at the back of her mind, she knew he was right. The priority was getting Sarah and Kirsty to safety.

“You better come back” She said eventually.

The Doctor nodded.

“I’ll certainly endeavour to.”

He dropped his hands away from her shoulders and spun round, running towards the dense trees.

Emelie watched him as he ran, before turning to her friends.

“Alright, let’s go” She said.

Sarah and Kirsty looked at each other, before turning their attention to Emelie.

“Where?” Sarah asked.

Emelie pointed to the trail she and the Doctor had used to get to the cabin earlier in the day.

“We came that way, I feel that’s our best shot.”

Walking towards the trail, Sarah and Kirsty looked towards where the Doctor had run through. Emelie noticed this as she looked back to make sure they were still there.

“Hey! Come on!” She shouted out to them. They responded by immediately turning and running down the path towards her.

—————————————————————

The route took far less time than Emelie anticipated. She didn’t feel the need to take in the surroundings anymore, right now her mind focused on escaping the park.

“What was it?” Kirsty’s voice rang out.

Emelie continued walking, but turned her head to acknowledge Kirsty.

“Now? You’re asking me this now?” She asked her, the frustration on her face still visible despite the light being drained from the world around them.

“Well I figured it'd be a good story to tell when all of this is over.”

Halting her progress suddenly, Emelie turned sharply to her friends.

“Listen to me. You do not breathe a word of this to anyone, understand?”

Sarah and Kirsty stood silently, unsure of how to respond.

“He’s bound to be annoyed already that I told you of the bounty hunter, but scream this out to the world and you’ll look ridiculous. No one will take you seriously,” She said.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Sarah replied.

“Because people are ignorant. They’d rather believe in what they can’t see than what they can see right in front of them. It’s like religion,” she explained.

The three friends looked at each other. This was the first time in a long while that they had been together.

Eventually, Sarah nodded in agreement.

“Okay. But I’m totally not looking forward to having to try and keep this all quiet from people” she admitted.

“Please just try.”

Emelie turned back to spot the claw marks on the oak tree from earlier. She moved closer to investigate it.

“Hmm,” she said to herself.

“What?” Sarah asked.

Emelie ignored her and looked past the oak tree to others positioned behind. Walking over to take a closer look, she spied the same claw marks as on the previous one.

“I think,” she began, “I think we can find Dylan this way.”

She pointed through the trees, where the same markings could be seen on the bark.

Kirsty didn’t even hesitate before she started past Emelie down the path, desperate to find her boyfriend.

“Well come on then!” she shouted out.

Sarah and Emelie looked at each other and smiled, before following Kirsty.

* * *

The end of the path presented very few trees around, but an old mine entrance could be seen jutting out from the ground.

It looked extremely old and unkempt, almost like the owners of the Park simply forgot the mine even existed.

The three girls came up to the entrance and peered down the chasm. There was no light to be found at all, let alone outside where the Sun was continuing its descent.

Emelie looked to the corner of the entrance, taking note of the bloody claw mark on the edge.

“I think we’ve found where it lives,” she declared.

Sarah reached into her pocket to find her phone, and switched the flashlight function on.

“Unless any of you have got a flashlight?”

Almost at the same time, Emelie and Kirsty took out their phones to do the same.

The three friends laughed, the first time they had done that in quite a while.

Emelie took the lead role and ventured in first, closely followed by Kirsty and Sarah.

* * *

The walls of the cave were cold to the touch, with the odd warning sign plastered along it to remind the workers of the mine that they were working in a dangerous area.

That was years ago, and there were no workers to be found, just the remains of those that had come before.

As the three walked further into the cave, Emelie looked up to the ceiling, and saw scratch marks cut deep into the rock.

“So it’s big then.”

They turned a corner to go deeper into the mine, the angle of the track taking them lower into the Earth.

Eventually, they reached the centre of the mine. A lone mine cart had been left behind by its original owners, left to gather dust as time progressed. Along the edges of the walls, more warning stickers could be seen as Sarah shone her light across them.

“Dylan!” Kirsty’s voice echoed as she rushed past her friends.

A small prison cell-like contraption was situated next to one of the walls, where a figure could be seen lying on the floor. Kirsty immediately recognised who it was:  _ Dylan _ .

“Dylan! Can you hear me?” Kirsty cried, her hands banging on the bars.

Eventually, Dylan came to. His eyes slowly opened, and shot open as soon as he saw Kirsty.

“Kirsty?!” he ran up to the bars and held out his hands to hold her. The couple pressed their heads against the bars, the tears streaming down their faces.

“That creature, it left about twenty minutes ago.”

“Okay, good. How do we get you out?” Kirsty asked.

Dylan shook his head.

“The door doesn’t have a key, but it's heavy. Far too heavy for any of us to move,” he explained to her.

Emelie looked around the area, hoping to find something to use to open the door. Her eyes drifted to the mine cart. It’s steel construction would surely be strong enough and heavy enough to open the door.

“We’ll use this,” Emelie decided, “we’ll pull it up the tracks and push it down to hit the door. Just make sure you’re out of the way.”

Dylan nodded in approval, and proceeded to move to the corner of the cell.

“I mean, you can wait, this’ll take a while to move.”

Emelie was correct in her assumptions. The mine cart was still remarkably heavy, even for the three of them to push.

Luckily, the three were able to take the mine cart to the top of the corner before the entrance to the mine.

“Ready?!” Kirsty shouted down the shaft.

“Go for it!” Dylan shouted back in response.

Counting to three, the girls pushed the mine cart down the track, the sound of the wheels along the rails was near deafening.

Dylan spotted the cart coming down at an alarming speed and moved back sharply. Covering his face, Dylan peered through his fingers to see the car had left the tracks behind, and was coming straight for him.

He threw himself down on the ground as the car crashed into the door, throwing it off its hinges and coming to rest on the wall next to Dylan.

Kirsty ran down to help him up.

“Come on!”

As they reached the top, they found Emelie and Sarah staring up at the entrance to the mine.

Just inside the entrance stood David, the Ranger that Emelie had questioned earlier that day.

“So this is where you went,” he announced.

“We don’t have time, we need to get out of her, fast!” Emelie replied.

She pulled Dylan forward so David could see him.

“Can you get us out?” Sarah pleaded with him.

“Well hurry up, then. We’re losing--”

His sentence was cut short by the distant sound of a howl. None of the wildlife living in the Park would ever make a howl like what was heard.

“Get back to the trail, my car’s parked at the end,” he said, before running off into the distance after whatever made that howl. A rifle could be seen slung over his shoulder.

“No, wait! It’s too dangerous!” Dylan shouted after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: The Doctor comes face-to-face with the creature responsible...


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor meets the creature responsible for all the devastation...

* * *

The Doctor had heard the howl ring out. Only for him, it was much louder. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking all around him, but ensuring he didn’t move a muscle.

Whatever it was, it was very close. Maybe so close that he might not be able to escape.

By this point, there was no evidence of the Sun in the night sky. The only light to be found was in the distant Moon that was beginning its ascent across the sky.

The Doctor was able to see some distance away, but was hindered by the lack of a true light source.

He’d even forgotten to bring a flashlight.

His thoughts halted as he heard the sound of twigs snapping, like what one would hear under a person’s shoes as they walked through the woods.

“You know, there are so many names for you,” The Doctor announced, even with the looming threat of an unseen being potentially robbing him of his existence.

The twig snapping occurred again, this time accompanied by a low, guttural growl. It was getting closer.

“The Cree, the Naskapi, the Innu. They all had names for you.”

A shadow crept up in the distance, it’s shape vast and huge.

“The Devourer of Mankind. For me personally, I like to go with…”

The shadow hung over the Doctor’s body. He slowly turned to look up at the creature before him.

“...Wendigo.” He smiled. “You are beautiful.”

The creature stood roughly eight feet in height. It’s head was shaped like that of a deer, but the skin was pulled thinly across it, so one could see details of the skull beneath. It’s eyes couldn’t be seen where the sockets were, due to the intense shadows around. A huge array of antlers adorned the top of it’s head.

The body itself looked old and decayed. A thin coat of brown fur covered it’s body, but the yellowish skin underneath was trying to break through. The arms were long and gaunt, ending in hands with overly long fingers.

The legs were similarly designed, the feet sharing the same characteristics as the hands and fingers.

“All that being said, I’m glad you aren’t a rabbit,” The Doctor admitted.

The Wendigo growled at him, ensuring it’s height intimidated him, but to no avail. It was almost like the Doctor was enjoying this.

He spied a strange collar around the Wendigo’s neck, almost like one would find around a dog. A dim, red light shone from a bulb on the side.

“Look how old you are. You must have been here for years.”

In a display of acknowledgement, the Wendigo nodded its head.

“Hundreds of years? Thousands? Maybe you can’t remember how long,” He deduced. “Where did you come from?”

Shifting it’s head upwards, the Wendigo’s gaze moved to the night sky. Immediately, the Doctor understood.

“You aren’t meant to be here. I know what that’s like, being stranded on a planet you hardly know.”

The Wendigo looked down to the Doctor, it’s demeanour no longer of a creature wanting to devour, but one that seeked guidance. Even it’s body drooped down lower to try and be face-to-face with him.

“If you let me help you, I can try to find a way to get you home. Wherever that is,” he said.

The creature nodded it’s head again, almost excited at the prospect of leaving this world.

The Doctor extended his hand out, wishing to touch the creature’s face. It appeared that the two were on equal terms, as the Wendigo lowered it’s head further toward him.

His hand came to rest on the creature’s jaw, and proceeded to stroke the area. The Doctor smiled.

Suddenly, the Wendigo raised itself up to its full height, and glared past the Doctor into the distance. 

The Doctor tried to follow it’s gaze, but the darkness meant he couldn’t see very far.

“What? What is it?” he asked it.

The Wendigo didn’t respond, and instead took off at an alarming speed, towards whatever it had sensed. The Doctor ran after it with haste.

* * *

David had his rifle out ready for whatever animal it was that howled.

Ahead of him, he spotted a dark shadow moving towards him at a great pace. Immediately, David aimed his rifle towards the shadow.

“Who’s there?”

A roar echoed through the trees. He could finally see what the creature was.

The Wendigo’s full visage was in view of the Ranger now. Staring in disbelief at it, he also saw the Doctor close behind, but not close enough.

“Stop!” he heard the man shout.

But it was too late. David had already readied the rifle and shot at the Wendigo, the bullet hitting it in the chest. It stopped running almost immediately and fell to the ground, sending leaves and twigs out in all directions.

“No!”

The Doctor came to a rest by the Wendigo. He placed a hand on the creature’s neck, searching for a pulse.

Nothing.

He moved his hand to a different region, almost pleading for a sign of life.

Eventually he gave up searching. He dropped his head down in mourning.

David slung his rifle back over his shoulder as Emelie and the rest of the group ran up to see what had happened.

The Doctor stood up slowly, and glared at David.

“It was scared,” he said.

David couldn’t find any words to respond. Emelie looked to the Ranger with a similar degree of anger to the Doctor.

“It was scared!” he repeated, only much louder this time.

Kneeling down, the Doctor brought his hand over the Wendigo’s face, and closed it’s eyes.

“You’re free now,” he said quietly, “free to die.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP: The night is bleak as the terror comes to an end...


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night is bleak as the terror comes to an end...

* * *

Back at the Visitor Centre, various emergency service personnel were once again roaming around. In the back of an ambulance, Dylan lay on a stretcher, Kirsty beside him. She held his hand tightly in hers.

Emelie gave Sarah a long hug goodbye.

“Keep in touch, yeah?” Sarah asked her.

Emelie nodded her head.

“Definitely,” she replied.

Sarah looked towards the Doctor, who was standing against the side of the Red Deer carving. His arms crossed over his chest, his head dropped low. He didn’t want to look at anyone. His emotions were very obvious just by his stance.

“Will he be alright?” Sarah wondered.

Emelie likewise turned to see the Doctor. Almost sensing her looking at him, the Doctor looked up briefly.

The two locked eyes for but a single moment, before he returned to his previous stance.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, “but I’ll certainly try and help him.”

Kirsty gestured towards Sarah to come and join them in the back of the ambulance.

“Thank you,” Sarah said, “both of you.”

Emelie smiled as Sarah ran over to the ambulance to be with her friends.

The Doctor continued to avoid eye contact as Emelie walked over to join him. Stood shoulder-to-shoulder, she looked out over the trees, contemplating the events of the night.

"What was that thing?" she asked him. 

The Doctor said nothing for a while, before acknowledging her question.

"Left behind. Poor thing," he replied.  “I wondered why I stayed away from people for so long. Now I remember why.”

Emelie looked at him for a response. Looking at his face, she saw small tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

“You people are so quick to act without thinking about what you’re doing.”

Emelie stayed quiet for a moment.

“It was hurting people,” she replied.

He looked up at her, almost studying her face.

“Wouldn’t you if you’d been left to fend for yourself without a family?”

Emelie was left numb, unable to find the words.

“So quick to judge what you don’t understand.”

The Doctor left the carving and walked out into the middle of the car park. He held his hands on his hips, looking up at the night sky, breathing out slowly.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I shouldn’t be talking to you like that.”

Emelie got up to join him in the car park. Placing a hand on his shoulder, it was almost comforting for him.

“Not everyone is like that. I can promise you that one.”

The Doctor looked at her, trying to figure out if she was right. He’d turned his back on Humanity a long time ago, maybe she was right that not all of them were the same.

“How sure are you of that?"

"Not all of us seek to destroy. Some of us are just here to discover. To learn," she suggested. "Had it been someone else, maybe the creature would still be here. Or maybe we could have found a way to send it back home, who knows? All I know is you can't judge us on the acts of just one person. The human race is so much more than that. Maybe you've lost sight of that, but I haven't."

The Doctor slowly nodded in agreement. He'd been used to seeing horrible acts of aggression and violence in people in the past, but he couldn't attribute those acts to an entire species. That would be too stubborn of a mind set to have.

"Maybe you're right," he admitted.

He looked back up to the stars in the sky, and watched as they glinted and pulsed in and out of view.

"Maybe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME:  
> "The Lost Knight"  
> The past and present collide when a knight from the 12th Century falls into the present day. When the Doctor and Emelie discover this, they must hurry to stop him from slaying the dragon he's hunting...


End file.
